TCAL prevails in physical all-star encounter

Monday

Jun 10, 2013 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - Two girls from St. Mary's gave the Tri-City Athletic League all stars the lead for good early in the second half as the TCAL defeated the San Joaquin Athletic Association contingent 3-1 in the second annual San Joaquin Soccer Alliance Rivals Cup on Sunday afternoon at Lincoln High's Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

Dave Campbell

STOCKTON - Two girls from St. Mary's gave the Tri-City Athletic League all stars the lead for good early in the second half as the TCAL defeated the San Joaquin Athletic Association contingent 3-1 in the second annual San Joaquin Soccer Alliance Rivals Cup on Sunday afternoon at Lincoln High's Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

In a particularly physical exchange with one TCAL player already on the turf in pain, an SJAA defender tried to wrest the ball from the Rams' Stephanie Pawek and threw Pawek to the ground five yards on front of the SJAA goal, giving the TCAL a penalty kick. Grace Cabri of St. Mary's made the best of her opportunity when she tapped in the penalty kick for a 2-1 TCAL lead.

The TCAL got on the board first. Midway through the opening half Pawek dribbled around a defender just inside the 18-yard line and then slipped past the goalie to fire into an empty net for a 1-0 lead.

"We had a lot of good passing," Pawek said. "They got the ball to my feet which gave me the opportunity to get that goal.

"Sometimes, you get the call when you get thrown down in the box. It is good that were able to convert it."

Another Rams standout capped the scoring when Salma Flores got the ball on a breakaway with five minutes left and kicked it in to put the TCAL ahead 3-1.

"We decided to go with a group of core players and rotate everyone else around them," TCAL coach Mark Kusanovich of St. Mary's said. "And those three players scored so I will take some credit for that. But I will give the rest of the credit to my assistant coaches who came up with that idea."

In the 37th minute the SJAA got on the board when Tiffany Souza of Calaveras took a cross from Franklin's Elizabeth Martinez and got it past the charging TCAL goalie to tie the game at 1-1.

"She knew where the ball was going to go," Martinez said. "She made a good run for it and she sent it right into the net."

Martinez's pass caught Souza off guard.

"I was not prepared for that," Souza said. "I saw an opportunity for a cut and I took it. I just got lucky."

Three times in the game's 72nd minute TCAL goalie Madison Jackson of St. Mary's made outstanding saves to protect her team's one-goal lead. The first came on a 25-yard direct kick by Tracy's Kelly Piazza that nearly made it between Jackson's outstretched arms and the crossbar. Moments later, the Bulldogs' Taylor Roach had her short shot deflected away by Jackson and that gave the SJAA a corner kick.

Jackson made the save from a scrum that followed the corner kick.

"The defenders like Aimee (Islas from St. Mary's) really helped me," Jackson said. "She was talking me through it because this was my first year playing goalie."